Blank Period
by PugEyed
Summary: [SasuSaku] Fate is reminiscent of orchestrated chaos. Flawed but also perfect, it is a contradiction of a lifetime. She tries her best to be his saving grace. He tries his best to deserve her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** \- Enjoy this draft that's been marinating in my files, let me know if you would like to see more of this :-))

* * *

_What is love without pain,_

_Fabrication & illusion._

_Pretty pictures scented flowers and reciprocal confusion._

_Cloudy days & rainy nights a ton of things that don't make sense,_

_A mental battle for control though actions make me seem so dense._

_I'd run away with you if I knew it would last_

* * *

She walked down the hallway, stopping short of the steel door. Taking a deep breathe in, she willed her heartbeat to slow down.

Of course she's nervous it's only natural. But she was here as a caretaker, a medic. She should be professional. Tsunade only allowed Sakura to do this job after it was found out previous medics were intentionally doing a hack job on the patient. They were suspended and revoked of their license of course, but to prevent further instances of discrimination, the Hokage found it easier to assign someone who would treat the patient with care without a doubt, and who better than the apprentice herself?

She held her hand out, chakra flaring at her fingertips and undid the seal locking the door. Tentatively, she stepped inside. She turned on the lights and flattened her medic skirt.

Concrete walls, concrete floors. The room was bare except the worn tatami mat where he was sitting. He was clad in a black strait jacket and threadbare pants. There were cuffs on his ankles with interlocking chains that confined him to the room. On his face there was only a blindfold with complex sealing fuinjutsu, no doubt to restrict the powerful eyes that lay below.

After realizing she had been staring for a little too long, she squeezed the basin of water she was holding, knuckles bleached white and walked over to him. She kneeled down and set the water by her side.

With the best professional medic voice she could summon, she said, "I need to take off the straitjacket to disinfect your arm so I can heal it.."

His only response was to lean forward, making it easier for her to undo the clasps on his top and slip it off.

She dipped her hand in the water and fished out the rag. Wringing it out and squeezing water out, she then folded it into a square and brought it up to the tender stump. The rag glided across porcelain skin and refined muscles, droplets of water clinging to him in its wake.

It was so hard not to admire the fine specimen that was his chest and rippling abs. A frown formed upon her face. Sakura resented herself a little bit for still harboring feelings for him, even after the stunt he pulled after defeating Kaguya. Still, didn't he apologize..

After cleaning the majority of his upper body- the past medics failed to clean anything- she set down the washcloth and brought her hands up to the stump. Her chakra analyzed a rather large clump of skin cells and misplaced nerves blocking his chakra pathway causing her brows furrow. Which could only mean..

"Have you been experiencing pain?"

His lips downturned slightly. "It comes in spurts."

"Hmm. Your chakra pathway is blocked which can cause chakra buildup." She sighed, "I can heal the majority of the clumps right now but to avoid strain on myself I would need one more session to get it all."

He nodded.

The room glowed green from the healing chakra emanating from her palms.

They spent the rest of the healing session in tense silence. It didn't take long for Sakura to finish so she started collecting herself and made her way out.

She was about to pass the doorway when he called out.

"Thank you….Sakura."

"Of course Sasuke-kun."

With that, she shut the door and walked down the hallway. She wouldn't remember her dream of scented waters, soft winds, and wisps of laughter- a dream with a raven-haired shinobi, in the morning.

* * *

**pls review**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **\- im gonna stray from canon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

* * *

Sakura stumbled out of bed, sheets twisted around her while she grasped for the closest article of clothing. It isn't usually like her to oversleep but Tsunade had caught her on the way home from the healing session with Sasuke and _insisted_ that Sakura was the only person she knew that could keep up with her drinking. So, the pair made their way to a bar. In hindsight Sakura should've known better, especially considering the event Tsunade was celebrating for (not that she needed one). The Godaime was- as she herself so eloquently put it, 'Finally fucking retiring,' which was punctuated by the downing of her favorite sake.

The alarm clock gave a final screech and in a rare show of inner, Sakura smashed the clock into her nightstand. Great. Now she was gonna have to pick up a new one.

She grabbed a shirt off her dresser and pulled it over her head. Clumsily, she hopped into the bathroom while pulling a skirt over her hips. There really wasn't much time for the usual routine so in compromise, she hastily ran a brush through her hair- morning breath breathe be damned- and leapt out of the window.

Let's not keep the Kazekage waiting.

* * *

**A couple hours ago..**

The whiskey swirled in the shot glass as she tilted it back and forth. Rice wine wasn't going to cut it right now. She skimmed the top and sipped carefully from the too full whiskey glass, courtesy of the bartender whose hand lingered on the drink when he handed it to her. And whose eyes lingered on her lips even longer. It burns as it trickles down her throat.

The war was won, lives were saved, world domination thwarted, so why did she feel like this? Something was missing. Something ticking in the back of her mind telling her she _forgot_. She felt utterly and wholly lost, a feeling that was only magnified by the effects of the alcohol permeating in her system.

"You might want to slow down on those." A warm body slides into the barstool next to her.

"If I did, then there wouldn't really be any point in drinking in the first place."

"Since when were you so morbid?"

"A lot has changed Kakashi-sensei." She turns to smile at him to contrast the mood.

He sighs and slides her half empty whiskey towards himself before she can snatch it back.

"Ah ah ah, I'm old and wise you should listen to my advice."

Sakura raises an eyebrow at him and huffs in annoyance at his antics, "You're not that old."

"That's what you decide to take from that sentence? I'm hurt Sakura." Kakashi knocks back the drink in one smooth movement.

Faster than her clouded eyes could track since his mask is already back in place before she even recognises the movement. But she almost swears she caught a glimpse of a small beauty mark, although not much is too clear in her fuzzy mind. Sakura watches as he swallows it down, his adam's apple bobs against the tight fabric of the mask. A drop of the warm liquid peeked over the edge of his mask, glistening. She catches herself before her thumb reaches. A frown finds its way onto her face.

"Where's the Hokage?" He seems to be watching her closely now. She's not sure if he caught her blunder.

"I think shishou knocked out after her 6th bottle," She gives him a pointed look. "Between you and me sensei, I think old age is running her tolerance down."

He looks down into the empty shot glass, "Between you and me I'm most likely gonna be appointed Rokudaime soon. And I haven't been your sensei in a long time, especially now that I'm gonna be officially pulling out of the team to become Hokage."

Even in her tipsy state, the implications of his words are clear to her. It doesn't even slip past her that he's not sure what to call their team anymore. There's a challenge in his tone though, as if he was testing her.

"You'll always be sensei to me, even if you aren't _officially_ in our rag tag _team_." She spits the word out just to show him she caught the undertone of his words.

His face falls slightly and he runs a hand through his silvery hair. The action makes her wonder if she miscalculated what he meant.

"I see…" He makes to stand up and digs in his pocket for something.

Now she's really confused and can't help but feel like she missed something important. Her head swims too much to really analyze further.

She's snapped out of reverie as he sets down enough money on the counter to cover what she drank. She gives him a questioning look.

"I probably owe you a lot from over the years." He leans back nonchalantly and gives her the signature eye-crinkle Only somehow the action seems empty. "I guess I should walk you home since you have an early morning tomorrow."

Sakura rises from her seat but looks back in puzzlement, "Huh?"

"Didn't Tsunade tell you?" Kakashi tilts his head questioningly.

Sakura crosses her arms and her eyebrows furrow in annoyance. Obviously her mentor was too out of it to remember something important. "Tell me what?"

"Gaara and the royal bunch are arriving in tomorrow morning to discuss medic nin training in Suna. There were talks about a sort of trade happening soon to see what we can learn from each other." He walks past her outside the bar. Her confused expression was enough for him to elaborate further.

He sighs, "Sakura on top of having to greet them when they arrive at the gate. Chances are you're among those that may get stationed in Suna to train a new generation of medic-nin."

She follows him out and they both walk towards the direction of her apartment. "I take it you had no idea…"

"Seems it must have slipped Tsunade-shishous mind,"

They reach her apartment building and Sakura fidgets with a loose thread at the hem of her skirt. She looks up at Kakashi and catches his eyes trained to where her hands fiddle with the string.

He rakes his eyes up the length of her body, lingering on the swell of her hips. She feels too hot all of a sudden like a warm blanket settled over the both of them. When she looks into his gaze it's undeniable, the desire darkening his ash colored eyes.

She gasps and presses her thighs together unconsciously. "Sensei?"

As soon as the word slipped past her lips it was as if it rippled in the atmosphere slowly and when it reached Kakashi, he took it like a splash of cold water in his face.

His hand patted the top of her head and his eye crinkled sadly. "Goodnight Sakura." The low baritone in his tone was so unmistakably man. Something so very primal coloring his voice. Lust. Desire. Man. It left her dazed and drunk further than she already was.

He was gone in a flurry of wind and autumn colored leaves. She was left alone to touch her heated cheeks surely rivaling her hair color.

_What just happened?_

* * *

**A/N - **this felt like a good place to stop..

Btw I really only have time to write and edit on the weekends so my updates will be sporadic. I'm not gonna make any promises on deadlines because I feel like if I do that, this fic will seem more like a chore than something I do for fun. I hope you guys understand! Thank you so much for reading and leaving those nice reviews !


End file.
